April 5 (Bloomberg) -- Charter costs for the biggest oil
tankers hauling Middle East crude to Asia fell for a ninth
session, rounding out a second weekly retreat, as a surplus of
ships seeking cargoes expanded.

Hire rates for very large crude carriers on the benchmark
voyage between Saudi Arabia and Japan slipped 0.2 percent to
31.91 industry-standard Worldscale points, according to figures
from the Baltic Exchange in London today. Costs declined 6.3
percent this week. Each of the ships can hold 2 million barrels
of oil.

There are 87 tankers available in the gulf over the next 30
days, two more than yesterday, Marex Spectron Group said in an
e-mailed report. The global VLCC fleet’s total carrying capacity
will rise 5.1 percent this year, above demand growth of 4.9
percent, according to Clarkson Plc, the biggest shipbroker.
Public holidays in Europe weighed on rates, according to an e-mailed report from London-based E.A. Gibson Shipbrokers Ltd.

“No spring sunshine for beleaguered VLCC owners as April
fixing begins to enter its end-game phase,” Gibson said. “This
week rates slid back to the bottom of their recent cycle.”

Daily losses for VLCCs plying the benchmark route narrowed
to $2,931 from $3,987 yesterday, according to the exchange. The
ships lost money on the journey for seven weeks through March
14, according to its assessments, which don’t reflect speed cuts
on return journeys after unloading of cargoes aimed at reducing
fuel costs.

Price of Fuel

Marine fuel, or bunkers, ship owners’ main expense, dropped
to the lowest level since the start of the year, according to
figures compiled by Bloomberg from 25 ports worldwide. Prices
retreated 1.9 percent, the most since Feb. 22, to $616.51 a
metric ton.

The Worldscale system is a method for pricing oil cargoes
on thousands of trade routes. Each individual voyage’s flat
rate, expressed in dollars a ton, is set once a year. Today’s
level means hire costs on the benchmark route are 31.91 percent
of the nominal Worldscale rate for that voyage.

The Baltic Dirty Tanker Index, a broader measure of oil-shipping costs that includes vessels smaller than VLCCs, gained
4.4 percent to 707, according to the exchange. The increase was
the largest since December 2011, figures compiled by Bloomberg
showed. The gauge advanced 7 percent this week, the most since
January of last year.